Reflect
by Annber03
Summary: A talk between Shaun and Claire at the fundraising gala puts things into perspective for Claire. Tag to episode 1x15 ("Heartfelt").


Claire needed to sit down.

She could actually _feel_ her head spinning. One minute she was dancing with Jared, having a good time, the next, he'd declared them essentially over. And all because she couldn't remember the song they shared their first kiss to! It's not like she was _lying_ when she said it'd been a crazy day, after all – he was at the hospital, too, he knew full well about all the chaos that had happened.

And besides, there were married people out there who couldn't always remember their damn anniversaries, and somehow they managed to move on and deal with it. Hell, that couple from the bus accident agreed to forge ahead with their wedding once the groom got better, and _that_ guy had _cheated_ on his fiancee!

Claire's internal rant continued as she made her way over to an empty table. She collapsed into the chair, resting her chin in her hand, and tried to distract herself by scanning the crowd. There were a few people out on the floor dancing the night away, but for the most part, many in the crowd were schmoozing. Claire chose to zero in on what her co-workers were doing, figuring their antics would be far more interesting than watching a bunch of old rich people talk to each other.

Neil and Doctor Lim were sitting together. Claire's brows went up at the sight. _They look awfully cozy._ She wasn't entirely sure what to make of that, other than she felt bad for Jessica.

But maybe she didn't need to. To her surprise, Jessica was among those out on the dance floor...accompanied by Glassman. She smiled as she watched them laughing and dancing (or in the case of Glassman, attempting to dance). Still, maybe a talk with Jessica would do them both some good at some point.

Doctor Aoki was having fun chatting it up with some guy, she caught a glimpse of Reznick – _Keep looking_ – there was Andrews and Shaun talking with a few people -

 _Hold up. Shaun?_

Claire straightened at the sight of her friend. _Yes! It was him._ He was actually mingling! From her vantage point, she could tell he still seemed a little nervous, but even so, he was putting himself out there.

 _Good for you, Shaun._ The image was enough to put a genuine smile on her face, and she decided to keep her focus on him for the time being.

* * *

Shaun could feel somebody's eyes on him. It wasn't an entirely uncomfortable feeling, though, more a strange one.

He looked over his shoulder, and after a quick scan of the area, his gaze landed on Claire. Her eyes widened a bit upon being caught staring, and she quickly looked down at her lap.

She was sitting alone, he noticed. Why? Normally she was with Doctor Kalu. Or Doctor Melendez. Perhaps her feet hurt because of her shoes. Or she was tired. He was growing tired, too. Maybe she'd let him sit with her, and he could figure out why she sat alone.

"Excuse me, I'm going to speak to Claire. It was nice to meet you," Shaun said to the people gathered before him. He then turned and walked away, not bothering to wait for a response from the others. Andrews looked briefly surprised, and a little confused, but ultimately steered the conversation back to other things. _At least he tried._

* * *

When Claire next glanced up, she noticed Shaun coming right towards her. She didn't exactly want any company at the moment...but one look at his face, and, well, she just didn't have the heart to tell him that. So she stayed quiet, staring straight ahead as he sat down across the table from her.

"Hello," he said, twisting his hands.

"Hi." She gave Shaun a small smile, taking in his tux and hair, before turning back to face the crowd. "You look pretty snazzy."

"I paid a lot of money for my tux," Shaun announced.

"You did?" Claire asked, scrutinizing him. "I thought you were just going to rent one. How much did this cost?"

"I changed my mind. It was $2,368," Shaun said. Since Claire asked, it was okay to tell her, right?

 _What?!_ Claire whipped around to face him fully now, eyes wide. "What made you decide to spend so much money?"

"Doctor Reznick told me I need to buy nice clothes so I can impress people."

Claire's jaw clenched at that. _Of course she did._ She bit back the rant that was building on her tongue. "Well, Shaun...there's other ways to impress people besides buying fancy clothes," she said, trying to keep her voice gentle. "You've impressed many people just by being yourself."

Shaun was quiet for a moment before replying. "Thank you."

Claire briefly tapped her fingers on the table. _Yeah, she was definitely going to need to talk to Reznick about this at some point._

"You're sitting alone," Shaun continued then, interrupting Claire's thoughts.

"Oh. Yeah. I'm just...a bit exhausted from dancing, is all!" She flashed Shaun a grin at this, removing a shoe to rub her foot.

"You are lying."

Claire flinched, halting her foot rub. "Excuse me?"

"I have been learning to tell when people lie. You sound like you are lying." Now it was Shaun's turn to face Claire.

He'd rendered her speechless. After a moment, she sighed, slipped her shoe back on, and folded her arms, resting them on the table. "You're right. I mean, my feet do actually hurt a little, but the truth is, Jared just dumped me," she admitted, eyes focused on the tablecloth.

"Dumped?"

"Broke up," Claire clarified. "Jared broke up with me."

"Oh." He noticed that her voice sounded similar to the way he felt when Lea told him she was moving. "I'm sorry."

"Thanks." Claire waited for any further questions from Shaun, but they didn't come. Which was good, because now she'd actually spoken the words aloud, _damn_ , she really _did_ need to let it all out.

"I don't even know what happened, really!" She threw her hands up. "One minute we were dancing and laughing and having fun, the next he accused me of not being in love with him because I didn't remember a dumb song we kissed to once, and then he just...left. Never mind the fact that it's been a really intense day and I've been distracted, or anything." She leaned back in her chair afterward, letting out a huff.

"Was he right?"

 _Of course he isn't,_ Claire wanted to tell Shaun. _Of course I like him._ But when she opened her mouth, all that came out instead was, "I...don't know."

 _Wow. That took a turn._ What the hell was she supposed to make of that?

"The smell of pine trees reminds me of Lea," Shaun said then.

"Huh?" Claire furrowed her brow.

"I think of her when I smell pine trees. Or when I play a song she sent me. I like having those memories."

Claire took in Shaun's words, slowly nodding to herself. She'd heard a bit about the road trip Shaun and Lea had taken together a couple months ago, recalled their conversations about Shaun and Lea visiting each other's places and getting to know each other as neighbors, and later, friends. She'd noticed how he lit up when talking about Lea and the fun things they'd done.

Had she ever had that with Jared? Forget about whether or not she could remember their song, were there any fun activities they did together, just the two of them? All she could really recall of their relationship were hidden hookups, hanging out at bars after work, maybe the occasional bite to eat at a restaurant together. They'd been to each other's places, too...but mainly just for late night sex. She couldn't really recall any evenings of them having a proper dinner together, or even just chilling and watching some TV.

And truthfully, when she thought more on their recent time together, she just remembered a lot of fighting, mixed with the occasional moment of comfort after a rough day. She'd always chalked their lack of special memories and time together up to their busy work schedules, but maybe...maybe there _had_ been more to it than that.

Hell, when Jared was talking about wanting them to be a public couple at this gala, Claire just saw that as a thing all people did when they'd been seeing someone for a while.

But no. He was clearly sending her a message with his request. And she didn't see it, not until it was too late.

 _O-kay, yeah,_ _definitely a lot to mull over later tonight._ For the moment, though, she put that thought aside, and simply moved a hand in Shaun's direction, tapping the table as she did so. "That's nice, Shaun. Thank you for telling me that."

"You're welcome."

Claire couldn't help matching the smile on Shaun's face. He really was sweet. "I'm glad you're keeping in touch with Lea."

"She's very nice."

"Sure sounds like it."

There was a pause before Shaun spoke again. "You're very nice, too."

Claire blushed slightly. _Aw._ "Thanks, Shaun. So are you."

"Thank you."

Claire glanced back at the people milling about. "So, do you want to do some more mingling?" She waited as Shaun thought out his answer.

"Mmmm...not really. I would like to just sit here." He glanced at her. "Are you going to sit here, too?"

She didn't need to be asked twice. "Yeah. I'll sit here."

The two fell silent then, watching the crowd once more.

* * *

 _Reviews/critiques/etc. are appreciated!_


End file.
